With the F56 in 2014 the MINI became mechanically a BMW throughout: UKL platform, transverse three-cylinder in the Cooper and four-cylinder in the Cooper S, built at Oxford. The boot grew to 211 litres, the wheelbase by a couple of centimetres, and the model ran until 2024 — ten years in which little changed outside.
Which makes the one exception matter more. The 2018 facelift brought the Union Jack rear lights that have been the brand's signature ever since; before it they were conventionally split. The two do not interchange, and because so little else was altered, it is the commonest mistake on this car.
On headlights it is specification rather than year that decides: halogen, LED and the adaptive version with a cornering function use different control and different connectors.
The F55 five-door shares the entire front end but has a longer wheelbase and doors of its own. A small car used in town loses lamps, mirrors and aprons first, and those are what we have most of from this model.
